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Trans-Global Highway
From the AfD: :"The Trans Global Highway article should and must remain as the project is and has been significant and in both discussion as well as in the planning stages for over 200 years. The fact that all elements and segments of the highway have not yet been unified into the Trans Global Highway, should not be a reason to remove this vitally important article. The Trans Global Highway has been referred to by many different names over the past 200 years including the "Inter Continental Highway", "Trans World Highway", "Cosmopolitan Highway" and many other names. The planning for the Trans Global Highway goes way beyond the Trans Global Highway NGO (www.TransGlobalHighway.org). ''Many books and printed articles have been written on the topic or have mentioned the Trans Global Highway over the past 200 years. Here are a handful of such writings: * ''"The Three Americas Railway: An International and Intercontinental Enterprise" book written in 1881 by Hinton Rowan Helper discusses the need for an Intercontinental Highway, using railroads, starting on page 418. The Trans Global Highway article also mentions the need for a global railroad network. * ''"The Rotarian", January 1936. An extensive article entitled "Seeking Peace in a Concrete Way" is written about the Inter Continental Highway, starting on page 42. * ''"Looking far north: the Harriman Expedition to Alaska, 1899" written in 1982 by William H. Goetzmann, Kay Sloan, writes that Harriman in 1899 proposed a "Round the World Railroad" (page 128). The authors go on to write that Harriman traveled to Japan a few years later to continue this proposal. * ''"The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier Between East and West" by James Oliver published in 2006 (256 pages) mentions extensively the Intercontinental Highway. He goes on to mention that the notion of a global highway has been around for hundreds of years including William Gilpen, who suggests it in 1846 was a proponent of a global rail highway to link to the then being proposed European and Asiatic Railway. * ''"Planning and Design of Bridges" by M. S. Troitsky, 1994 describes many of the bridges and tunnels proposed in the Trans Global Highway article including on page 39 this book mentions that in 1958, T.Y. Lin mentions the possible construction of a Bering Strait bridge (and obviously a needed highway network). * ''Alaska History: A Publication of the Alaska Historical Society, Volumes 4-6 (1989) mentions on page 6 that in 1892, a man named Strauss proposed a global highway and a man made bridge over the Bering Strait. The article goes on to mention the Lin proposal of 1958. * ''"Maritime Information Review" a publication of the Netherlands Maritime Information Centre, in 1991 had an extensive article, on "strait crossings" covering the then proposed Bering Strait bridge, the Gibraltar Tunnel and so on, and mentions the proposed global highway network. * ''Popular Mechanics Apr 1994 has an article called "Alaska Siberia Bridge" and the article goes on to mention the construction of a global highway. ''The above are just a handful of the hundreds of articles and books that have been written on the proposed Trans Global Highway. The potential references for the Trans Global Highway is very extensive. ''Many distinguished and intellectual websites have discussed the Trans-Global Highway. A quick search on Google.com, Yahoo.com, Bing.com or others will quickly show thousands of discussions covering the Trans Global Highway (using either the Trans Global Highway name or any one of many other variant names, such as the Cosmopolitan Highway or others, as mentioned above. ''Russian President Putin as well as Japan's prime minister Abe, both in their first terms, also have mentioned the need for a Global Highway, including the Bearing Straight Tunnel. ''The Schiller Institute in the late 1980's wrote about the need for a unified highway system that they referred to as the Cosmopolitan Highway (http://www.schillerinstitute.org/economy/maps/maps3.html#bering%20straits) . ''In 1923, when the Pan American Highway (also referred to at the time as the "Trans America Highway") treaty was being signed, there was also mention of extending this highway to cross the Bering Strait and become a global highway. It is apparent that they signators viewed the Pan American Highway as a portion of a future global highway (ie Trans Global Highway). The Trans Global Highway is the key to connecting the world in the not to distant future. ''The Trans Global Highway Wikipedia entry should be expanded and encouraged, not removed. Detailed maps, other alternative paths and photographs should be added to the entry to enhance the article. ''If you look at the statistics for the page, you will see that in just the past day, about 80 people have logged onto the page. This translates to 2400 people per month who are interested in the topic. The number would have no doubt been higher had the page not been forwarded to the Pan American Highway article and thus deprived of its own index. These statistics show that the idea of Global Unification by a physical pathway is indeed of general interest and is something on people's minds. ''The Trans Global Highway is a summation of the goals and aspirations of people around the world proposing a global highway over the past 200 years. The Trans Global Highway is a lot more than lines on the map. It is a direction for the future. The Trans Global Highway article must remain and is perhaps the single most important article in the field of highways on Wikipedia. The article should be expanded to include greater detail on the Trans Global Highway." :-end AfD comment :''See also-Wikipedia:Cosmopolitan Railway The '''Trans-Global Highway' is a range of proposed highway systems that would link all six of the inhabited continents on Earth. If constructed, cars could drive from Australia to California via Russia and Alaska. People from New York would also be able to drive to London via Greenland. The highway would network new and existing bridges and tunnels, improving not only ground transportation but also potentially offering a conduit for utility pipelines. One of the earliest proposers was Frank X. Didik, who proposed connections between Eurasia and North America. History In 1890 William Gilpin first proposed to connect the continents by land via the Wikipedia:Cosmopolitan Railway. Significant elements of that proposal, such as the English Wikipedia:Channel Tunnel, have been constructed since that era. However, the improvement of the global shipping industry and advent of international air travel has reduced the demand for many intercontinental land connections. Ferry connections Some of the missing links are connected by car ferries. Other links are not. Bureaucracy regarding border crossings is often another obstacle for international driving. Major Components Bering Strait bridge or tunnel One of the major components of the proposal is to span the Wikipedia:Bering Sea with a bridge or tunnel called the Intercontinental Peace Bridge, the TKM-World Link or the AmerAsian Peace Tunnel. This would link the American Wikipedia:Cape Prince of Wales, with the Wikipedia:Russian Wikipedia:Cape Dezhnev. The Bering Strait Tunnel would consist of 3 tunnels connecting Wikipedia:Alaska and Russia by going through two islands (the Little Diomede (USA) and Big Diomede (Russia)). The longest single tunnel would be 24 miles (40 km). Since the Wikipedia:Bering Sea at the proposed crossing has a maximum known depth of 170 feet (50 m), the tunnels might be dug with conventional Wikipedia:tunnel boring machines of the type that was employed in the construction of the Channel Tunnel. The three tunnel proposal is considered to be preferable over a bridge due to severe environmental conditions, especially the inescapable winter ice damage. Each proposed tunnel would be shorter than some current tunnels. The Channel tunnel linking England with mainland Europe is approximately 31.34 miles (50.45 km) long; the ocean tunnel Wikipedia:Seikan linking Wikipedia:Hokkaidō with Wikipedia:Honshū in Japan is 33.46 miles (55.86 km) long; and the Swiss Wikipedia:Gotthard Base Tunnel through the Wikipedia:Alps, currently under construction, will be 35.7 miles (59.60 km) long. To make a bridge or tunnel useful, a road must be built to connect it, despite very difficult climate and very sparse population that makes roads less economically motivated. In Alaska a 700 mile (1,100 km) road would be needed, and in Russia a road more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) long must be constructed. Japan Korea Tunnel Japan might technically be connected with mainland Asia via five tunnels, called the "Korea Japan Friendship Tunnel System," extending from the city of Fukuoka on Wikipedia:Kyūshū, Japan, to the port city of Wikipedia:Pusan in Korea via four islands. The maximum ocean depth in this area is 480 feet (146 m). Similar proposals have been discussed for decades by Korean and Japanese politicians. Hokkaidō Sakhalin Asia Tunnel It may also be possible to connect Japan to mainland Asia by constructing two tunnels extending north from Wikipedia:Hokkaidō to Wikipedia:Sakhalin Island (the Wikipedia:Sakhalin Hokkaidō Long Tunnel), which would be 25 miles (42 km) long and a second tunnel from Wikipedia:Sakhalin to the Wikipedia:Siberian Wikipedia:Russian mainland (the Wikipedia:Sakhalin Tunnel), which would only be 4.2 miles (7 km) long. Moreover, Sakhalin Island region is a major oil-producing region, and the introduction of a pipeline would add a valuable secondary means of oil transport. Gibraltar Tunnel The Wikipedia:Gibraltar Tunnel is proposed to be a rail tunnel linking Africa and Europe. Due to the depth of the Strait of Gibraltar (300–900 metres / 1000–2950 feet), it would be a great challenge to remove automobile exhaust from this depth. Any tunnel would most likely be an electrified rail tunnel, similar to the Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France. There have also been proposals for a bridge over the Strait. Australia-Papua New Guinea Tunnel A tunnel/bridge between the Australian mainland and the island of Wikipedia:New Guinea, bridging the Wikipedia:Torres Strait, is not considered economically feasible owing to the great distance. Cape York in northern Queensland is 140 km away from Wikipedia:New Guinea. This is a very long distance compared to existing tunnels or bridges, and the demand for car travel is not so high; as of 2009Australia PNG Indonesia by ship/ ferry there are no car ferries between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Passenger travel is by air only. Indonesian connections There might be demand for connecting parts of Wikipedia:Indonesia, most importantly the heavily populated island of Wikipedia:Java, which could be connected to the Asian mainland by a Wikipedia:Sunda Strait Bridge to Wikipedia:Sumatra and from there across the Wikipedia:Strait of Malacca to Wikipedia:Singapore and/or Wikipedia:Malaysia. Red Sea A bridge spanning the Wikipedia:Red Sea at the Wikipedia:Bab-el-Mandeb has been proposed.Notice-to-Proceed Launches Ambitious Red Sea Crossing – ENR | McGraw-Hill Construction It would span from Wikipedia:Djibouti in the Wikipedia:Horn of Africa, across the strait, to Wikipedia:Perim Island, and then to Wikipedia:Yemen, for a total distance of around 18 miles including a suspension bridge spanning over 3 miles. On February 22, 2008, it was revealed that a company owned by Wikipedia:Tarek bin Laden is planning to build a bridge named Wikipedia:Bridge of the Horns across the strait, linking Wikipedia:Yemen with Wikipedia:Djibouti Construction was proposed to begin in 2009. Proposals have not yet been approved by the governments of Djibouti and Yemen. A proposal also exists to build a bridge across the Wikipedia:Gulf of Aqaba, linking Wikipedia:Egypt with Wikipedia:Saudi Arabia, bypassing Wikipedia:Israel to the north via Wikipedia:Tiran Island. English Channel There is no highway connection between Great Britain and the European mainland; only a railway connection, the Channel tunnel. A road tunnel was proposed as an alternative, but not considered viable. Automobiles and lorries/Wikipedia:transport trucks are loaded onto the Wikipedia:Eurotunnel Shuttle's enclosed railway cars (similar to Wikipedia:auto rack/Wikipedia:motorail railway cars) for the trip through the tunnel, however. A road service tunnel runs the entire length of the crossing, but is closed to general use and used only during emergencies and for maintenance. Darién Gap A notable break in the Wikipedia:Pan-American Highway is a section of land located in the Wikipedia:Darién Province in Panama and the Wikipedia:Colombian border called the Wikipedia:Darién Gap. It is an stretch of rainforest. The gap has been crossed by adventurers on bicycle, motorcycle, Wikipedia:all-terrain vehicle, and foot, dealing with jungle, swamp, insects, and other hazards. Some people, groups, indigenous populations, and governments are opposed to completing the Darién portion of the highway. Reasons for opposition include protecting the rain forest, containing the spread of tropical diseases, protecting the livelihood of indigenous peoples in the area, and reducing the spread of drug trafficking and its associated violence from Colombia. Difficulties As with all major public works projects, funding is an issue, except for the Darién Gap, where political considerations are more important. Large international projects such as the Wikipedia:Bering Strait crossing, Wikipedia:Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel, and Wikipedia:Strait of Gibraltar crossing require not only great engineering effort, but also tremendous diplomacy to ensure that costs and benefits would be shared equitably. Other modes of transport, by air and sea, are already available, except for the Darién Gap. In addition, geological study must be done to ensure that the local Wikipedia:plate tectonics would be compatible with the proposed tunnels. See also * Wikipedia:Cosmopolitan Railway * Wikipedia:Trans-Asian Railway * Wikipedia:Atlantropa * Wikipedia:Pan-American Highway * Wikipedia:Transatlantic tunnel * Wikipedia:Strait of Messina Bridge * Wikipedia:Taiwan Strait#Proposed_link * Wikipedia:Taiwan Strait Tunnel Project * Wikipedia:Irish Sea Tunnel * Wikipedia:Orkney tunnel References * "The Three Americas Railway: An International and Intercontinental Enterprise" book written in 1881 by Hinton Rowan Helper discusses the need for an Intercontinental Highway, using railroads, starting on page 418. * "The Rotarian", January 1936. Article "Seeking Peace in a Concrete Way" starting on page 42. * "Looking far north: the Harriman Expedition to Alaska, 1899" written in 1982 by William H. Goetzmann, Kay Sloan, writes that Harriman in 1899 proposed a "Round the World Railroad" (page 128). The authors go on to write that Harriman traveled to Japan a few years later to continue this proposal. * "The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier Between East and West" by James Oliver published in 2006 (256 pages) mentions extensively the Intercontinental Highway. He goes on to mention that the notion of a global highway has been around for hundreds of years including William Gilpen, who suggests it in 1846 was a proponent of a global rail highway to link to the then being proposed European and Asiatic Railway. * "Planning and Design of Bridges" by M. S. Troitsky, 1994 describes many of the bridges and tunnels proposed in the Trans Global Highway article including on page 39 this book mentions that in 1958, T.Y. Lin mentions the possible construction of a Bering Strait bridge (and obviously a needed highway network). * Alaska History: A Publication of the Alaska Historical Society, Volumes 4-6 (1989) mentions on page 6 that in 1892, a man named Strauss proposed a global highway and a man made bridge over the Bering Strait. The article goes on to mention the Lin proposal of 1958. * "Maritime Information Review" a publication of the Netherlands Maritime Information Centre, in 1991 had an extensive article, on "strait crossings" covering the then proposed Bering Strait bridge, the Gibraltar Tunnel and so on, and mentions the proposed global highway network. * Popular Mechanics Apr 1994 has an article "Alaska Siberia Bridge" and the article goes on to mention the construction of a global highway. External links * The original Trans-Global Highway proposal * Map of route * The Schiller Institute article on the Trans Global Highway Category:Megastructures Category:Imagineering Category:Utopia Category:Utopian concepts Category:Exploratory engineering Category:Globalization Category:Transport technologies Category:Hypothetical technology Category:Emerging technologies Category:Technology Category:Hypotheses Category:Futurology Category:Technology forecasting Category:Upcoming products Category:Technology by type Category:Technological change Category:Preparation for the future Category:Future Category:Prediction Category:Social change Category:Fictional locations Category:Social concepts Category:Mythological places